Tynewydd Colliery inundation, 1877

At about four on the afternoon of 11 April 1877, as the men were about to leave, water from the flooded old workings of Cymmer Colliery broke through the boundary barrier into Tynewydd Colliery at Porth. Of fourteen men underground, two drowned at once and two more in a flooded heading; a fifth was killed by escaping compressed air as rescuers broke through to his group. Four men and a boy survived in an air pocket for more than nine days until they were reached through 38 yards of coal on 20 April, a rescue followed across Britain that brought the first Albert Medals awarded for gallantry on land.

Cause

An inrush of water from the abandoned, flooded No. 3 Rhondda workings of Cymmer Colliery (Hinde's pit), through a barrier of unworked coal too thin to hold it.

Contributing factors

A barrier of unworked ground had been left at the boundary, but it was far from adequate; the inquest found the manager had been misled by his belief that a fault in the coal lay before the boundary. Water had been seen coming out in the workings before the inrush.

What happened

Five men ran ahead of the flood to higher ground, where air compressed by the rising water held it back. They dug through the night towards another roadway, and when the last thin wall broke on the Thursday William Morgan was forced into the opening by the rush of air and killed; his four companions were brought out. Nearer the shaft, rescuers heard tapping from Edward Williams and the boy Robert Rogers below them and sank a shaft to their heading, but the tapping stopped and the heading was full of water when they reached it. Divers came on the Saturday but were defeated by currents and wreckage. Pumping lowered the water enough to drive a heading towards Thomas Morgan's stall, where on the following Wednesday tapping showed that Daniel (Daffyd) Jenkins, Moses Powell, George Jenkins, John Thomas and the boy David Hughes were alive.

Rescue & recovery

Four shifts of four men drove a heading six feet wide by three high through the barrier. When boreholes released the trapped air, water rose on the men and firedamp poured into the heading, flaring the Clanny lamps and forcing a retreat; brattice sheets were set to clear it, and stout air doors built. Isaac Pride broke through the last of the coal in darkness, helped by Abraham Dodd and Gwilym Thomas, and lay across a flooded channel as a bridge while the five were pulled across, on 20 April. H.M. Inspector T. E. Wales directed the operations with the engineers, and Dr Henry Naunton Davies, the company surgeon, attended the rescued men, work for which he received the first BMA Gold Medal.

Investigation & inquiry

The inquest opened at Porth on the body of William Morgan and heard evidence from the manager, officials and H.M. Inspector Wales. After three hours the jury, twelve of the sixteen agreeing, found that four of the dead had died through the neglect of the manager James Thomas, who had been led into a mistake by his belief in a fault; on the coroner's direction they returned manslaughter, and Thomas was bailed.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

James Thomas was tried for manslaughter at the Glamorgan assizes and acquitted, the judge telling the jury they could not punish an honest error of judgment; the Cardiff Times of April 1878 commented on the jury at a second assize trial at Cardiff. His name was withdrawn from the Albert Medal list in the London Gazette of 10 August 1877 once the Queen learned he was to stand trial.

Memorials & commemoration

Albert Medals, four of the first class and twenty-one of the second, were presented to the rescuers at a ceremony at the Rocking Stone above Pontypridd attended by an estimated forty thousand people; five of the medals are held at Big Pit National Coal Museum.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• On 11 April 1877 water from the abandoned, flooded No. 3 Rhondda workings of Cymmer Colliery burst through the boundary barrier into Tynewydd with fourteen men underground. ^1,2,3
• Five died: two drowned in the first inrush, William Morgan was killed by escaping compressed air as a rescue hole broke through on 12 April, and Edward Williams and the boy Robert Rogers drowned in a flooded heading. ^1,4
• Welsh Coal Mines names the two drowned in the first inrush as John Hughes, 50, and his son William, 18; the police list put to the inquest names John Hughes, found on 30 April, and William Jones, found on 1 May. (disputed) ^1,4
• Four men and a boy, David Hughes, trapped in an air pocket in Thomas Morgan's stall, were reached through a 38-yard barrier of coal on 20 April after more than nine days. ^1,2,5
• Four first-class and twenty-one second-class Albert Medals were awarded to rescuers, the first for gallantry on land; Isaac Pride, John William Howell, Daniel Thomas and William Beith received the first class. ^1,2,5
• Twelve of sixteen inquest jurymen found that four of the dead died through the manager James Thomas's neglect, though misled by his belief in a fault in the coal; the jury returned manslaughter, and he was acquitted at the assizes. ^4,5
• James Thomas's name was removed from the London Gazette list of Albert Medal awards on 10 August 1877 once the Queen learned he was to stand trial. ⁵

Related terminology

Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.

• Brattice (rescue/recovery concept)
  Brattice sheets were set to clear the gas from the heading.
• Firedamp (hazard involved)
  Gas escaped into the rescue heading when boreholes broke through.
• Inrush (direct cause)
  Water from old workings broke in.
• Overman (rescue/recovery concept)
  The overman Richard Howell found the second trapped pair.
• Safety Lamp (rescue/recovery concept)
  Clanny lamps flared in the gas and the rescuers withdrew.
• Water Balance (contextual relationship)
  Tynewydd raised its coal by water balance.

Sources

1. (secondary) Tynewydd Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) The Tynewydd Mining Disaster (Ceri Thompson, 2012) — Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
3. (secondary) Tynewydd Colliery disaster — Wikipedia
4. (secondary) The Tynewydd Colliery Tragedy of 1877 (compilation of contemporary reports) — People's Collection Wales
5. (secondary) Heroes of Mine: Tynewydd 1877 (extract from D. V. Henderson, Heroic Endeavour) — Heroes of Mine

Record created: 13 September 2026 · Last researched: 13 September 2026